Topic: Playing with fire againPosted By: John Hodgson
Subject: Playing with fire again
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2011 at 9:55pm

I have had this tree trunk thing standing in my workshop for some time now just waiting for me to come up with an idea as to what it was going to beI also had a rather large oak burrwhich went onto the latheNd came out like thisThe idea was to make some sort of stand to take the bowl and present it as one of my mystical type ceremonial bowls.
After about 6 months of looking at it and lots of head scratching I decided to make a start.
As with most of my work I have a vague vision of what it might be but leave a lot to what the wood dictates and my capabilities to coax out it out of the wood.
I had impulse bought a Proxxon mini carver or whatever it is called (can't be bothered to trail up to the workshop to check) and have been quite eager to give it a go. I always find it a bit daunting when making that first cut with the chainsaw but I put my mind to it and went .
As this looks like being quite a long job I thought I would post the various stages as I work on it.
I hope you don't mind, some of you who work to very precise plans and dimensions might find this
a bit interesting. Even I might as well. Here goes and please let me know what you think.
It is very hard old oak and will make excellent fire wood if you think it's rubbish.
WOW. I have just found a spell check on my computer.!!!!!!!! These plus some carving tool were used so far.Unfortunately I didn't get any pics up to this stage .Most of the work has been done with the machines so far then I refine things with carving gouges.
Now for the fun part,I love to work with a gas blow torch and wire brushes as the texture it leaves is unobtainable with anything else.The bowl will somehow be located in about this position. To be thought about.This was a miss fire but I like the effect.The hands which are about 2" apart will hold a 15" dia. discus like object between them which will be covered or partially covered in gold leaf representing the sun or some other heavenly object.

The beauty of working spontaneously without a plan is that all sorts of unexpected developments happen and greatly add to the excitement of creating a piece of work like this.
I will post more in the near future as it takes place but I am only working on this between other jobs.
Bit of a panic to get some new work out for an exhibition at the Queen's Gallery, Dundee.

absolutely great so far i love the way you work spontanious ideas worked into the wood
most of all shavings all over the shop tools all over this is going to be one of your best
i bet be careful with that blow torch we want to see it finished jim

-------------a mcalpine fusillier

Posted By: Andi
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2011 at 11:03pm

I love the way your brain works John!!!

I can't wait to see how this develops.

I bought a blow torch thingy about a year ago with the intention of using it on some turnings, but I don't know how to use it, so It hasn't come out of the box, I'm scared i'll do it wrong, and it'll blow up

Andi

-------------If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!
http://afincherwoodturning.webs.com/ - my website

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2011 at 11:19pm

Thanks Jim and Andi. Jenni keeps pestering me to lend her the blowtorch for finishing off her creme brulee,Maybe you could try yours out for that and get a bit of practice before you have a go on the woodturnings. Be a shame if you spoiled a woodturning.
By the way ,it wasn't a very good idea to ware the wellies while I was power carving. Good job I took them off before I got into bed. They were full to the gun'ls with shavings.
Cheers John.

John, just brilliant I was alarmed at the thought of wearing wellies. Had mental image of hot embers getting in them and hopping around with a lit blowtorch I wish I could regularly get into this free thinking mode you are in at the moment. It's happened a few times with me but I can't just turn it on. Looking forward to all of the next steps.

-------------http://peterdhyde.com/ - My New Site

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2011 at 10:01pm

Thanks all for your very encouraging comments. Hey Pete, I reckon blazing wellies would look quite spectacular in a photo shoot. Could be one way of getting my perpetually cold feet warmed up.
As for the free thinking mode....I wish I could get out of it occasionally and do a bit of serious
planning and direction. Once in a while the real world catches up with me and it can come as a bit of a shock. Still the joys of living in the Highlands. cheers John.

How on earth did you see a pair of hands in that trunk??? genius..crazy...genius..crazy...genius!

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2011 at 10:50pm

Well Bruce,,, Ive not the faintest idea, maybe it was just the way the natural shakes in the old wood converged, there was a slight nobble that sort of gave me the idea of the knuckle on a thumb and a very deep split ran all the way down from the top which almost corresponded with one on the back of the trunk. that resulted in the two sort of arms. This trunk had possibly been lying on the forest floor for 40 yrs. or more and all the sapwood had rotted off leaving the extremely hard heart wood .I hope to be working on it again this week and will post results.
Cheers John.

cold feet and wellies are what i could answer questions on "mastermind" about . Blazing Wellies i,m sure we could make a film about that Really like what you have done so far and it will be very interesting to see what you come up with for the suspension of the bowl.
( I was thinking along the lines of a wire type thing with more graduated marbles dripping downwards from the sun like molten lava into the bowl).
I,m sure whatever you come up with will be unique to yourself and very inspiring to us all.
By the way is that a copper or brass "staple" across the top of the piece

Ivan

Posted By: Adie
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2011 at 11:53pm

highlandwoodnut wrote:

By the way ,it wasn't a very good idea to ware the wellies while I was power carving. Good job I took them off before I got into bed. They were full to the gun'ls with shavings. Cheers John.

Do you normaly wear your wellies to bed then John

Great stuf mate, can't wait to see the finished form

Adie

-------------Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2011 at 10:56pm

Hi Ivan,Thanks for your reply. I like your idea of the connection from the sun,yes that is what I had in mind for it to be,to the bowl. I had toyed with the possibility of a sort of arm from the base lump to support the bowl or chains or wire from the hands to suspend the bowl. This appealed to me most as the bowl would then hang in space.
You are certainly onto my thought thread. My provisional title for it is "The Creation Of the Universe" or "In The Beginning," The marble representing the world we live on and the bowl the universe around it. However all this may well change as things progress or further design opportunities arise.
The copper is indeed a staple. Quite a large one, 8mm square boat nail beaten out to shape. It is there to re enforce a weak area where the bark intrusion cuts through almost from centre to edge. The bar doesn't have a turn at the ends but is drilled and countersunk to take a couple of small boat nails at each end.

Sorry to spoil the fun Adie. The only bed I wear the wellies in is the flower bed.Nice thought though.
Cheers John.

Hi Mark, If it is ready it may go into an exhibition I am having at the Carthouse Gallery on the Isle of Mull in April. I may also save it for the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle where the Ealanta Lochaber artist collective I work with are having a group exhibition in September.
I haven't done much work on it this week but have sourced some semi dry sycamore and made the blank for the "sun"? I was in Glasgow yesterday and spent some time trying to find some 3mm brass rod but without any luck. (ran out of time but bought an air compressor instead) I used to have some brass unfluxed brazing rod that would have been suitable but ran out of it last year.
I have decided to suspend the large bowl using three rods fixed to the hands somehow. Rather than straight rods I intend to cut them into short lengths and braze them together overlapping alongside each other to form almost a lightning strike type of effect. Well I think I can see what it should look like
I will post a pic soon Cheers John.

Not commented before now as I was waiting for the next instalment. Good to see you in the magazine and your workshop, I would have a good time trying out your blow torch as it is considerably bigger than mine. .

I like very much what you are doing with this. Organic creativity, working with what you find and developing it is very satisfying.

Looking forward to seeing the finished piece.

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 01 Feb 2011 at 10:59pm

Hi Mark, Thanks for your comments, I showed my Tuesday night woodturning group your oak sculpture. Perfect project for two of the lassies who have yet to find that there is hardly a straight piece of oak longer than 2ft in the whole of Morven. Maggie ,who has the old Arundel lathe with about a 6ft bed has literally quite high ambitions. I will make sure that they post the results although it may take a bit of time before they are finished.
Cheers John.

Thanks, I am glad they liked the article. It has had a lot of interest and it will be good to see the results and one from a 6ft lathe, wow that would be something.

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2011 at 9:13pm

I will let you know when it happens Mark. I might even have a go myself,it may just give me an opportunity to use another marble.
Here are a few pics of WIP. not much this week .Here is the sycamore blank in the place where it will eventually be. As it is still a bit green I have waxed the edge and will give it a bit of time to dry out before I turn it. It just gives me an idea of the proportions I have to work to.I have opened up the natural shakes in the lower part of the trunk prior to a bit more carving and scorchingAs I have decided to suspend the large bowl from the hands area I will have to think of some way of extending the footprint of the base to give it a lot more stability. At the moment it just has the remains of it's root plate which is not too bad but not sufficient for the heavy bowl.The root area is a bit messy and with out a definite shape or form so I shall have quite a bit of work to do with it to make it look part of the total event. I thought of including some turned spheres of different woods and sizes into the sort of sockets where rocks were.. Possibly introduce some colour and gold leaf to add a bit of interest in this area.
I don't expect to get too much done next week as I have quite a bit of work to get ready for an exhibition and it is needed by a week tomorrow..
Cheers John.

I managed to get a bit more done yesterday, mainly working down the trunk and adding a bit more to the carving. There were quite a lot of splits which I decided to open up quite a lot with the chainsaw and Proxon I have made them quite deep and some meet up towards the centre. I am seeing the sort of ribs that are left as lines of energy rising from the depths of space up to the hands of the creator so I have accentuated these and taken them down into the root plate.
I am toying with the idea of colouring the innermost areas of the splits from red to purple to midnight blue blended into each other. I don't know whether to start with blue at the base fading to red at the top or the other way round
All the carving was by machine and followed by a good scorching and wire brushing. I keep the vacuum nozzle close to the wire brush while doing this as it creates an awful lot of soot.

That wasn't meant to go on yet and I certainly didn't click post reply ,so to continue here are the photos of the various stagesStarting to open up the splitsAs well as a good supply of fire extinguishers I always keep a squirty bottle of water handy. As well as butting out flames I can wet areas that I don't want to char.Here I have carved the split down into the root area and scorched it. I have now got to refine the root plate where there is an awkward looking lump that doesn't flow into the rest of it.
I think I will saw a chunk off it.
On the right of the pic are the wire brushes I use. I find that the bronze bristle brushes work best and leave a softer smooth surface which I prefer to the coarse finish from the stiff wire brushes.
I use a fairly industrial type propane blow torch which gives a good hot flame that I need to produce this sort of work.
I am not going to go on about all the health and safety aspects related to working like this as I think anyone having a go at this work will be quite aware of the potential dangers and take the necessary precautions.

I certainly like the process you are working through. Great stuff, can;t give any advice in relation to which colour to do first. I generally find that if I go wrong then the blow torch soon sorts it out. ( taking into account any fire precautions in relation to the stains).

That aside it is an enjoyable process watching you create this piece and seeing it develop. You are obviously connected to your work. Good on you.

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2011 at 5:32pm

Thanks Mark, I have just been a bit connected to the other part of my job. Hunting out half a dozen logs for the oak sculptures that our Tuesday evening new club night are about to make.Couldn't find any oak so they are going to be made from yew.
Cheers John.

-------------If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!
http://afincherwoodturning.webs.com/ - my website

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 08 May 2011 at 5:33pm

I am still working on this piece as and when an idea comes to mind or I get a chance to do something at it between other jobs.Every time I have looked at the oak bowl I have felt that the glass marble wasn't just right.
I had made the bowl before I had really decided what I was going to do with it. (typical of me, act first and think about it later)
Well.....the marble has gone. It didn't really fulfill the role I had in mind for it as the focal point of the complete work. Also I didn't think it was quite organic enough for the rest of the piece and this was backed up by comments from other like minded persons.
As usual, when I was looking for something else, I came across a bit of burr wych elm off cut that gave me the idea for the centre piece which I think is exactly right to portray the newly created universe with the world at it's centre.
The globe is about the size of an orange and I have mounted it onto a bearing I salvaged out of a broken router so that it spins beautifully.

After I turned the globe I scorched it well and brushed it with a bronze wire brush to enhance the grain. Microwaved it to dry it out then coated it with gesso prior to working gold transfer leaf into all the indents with an agate. (as used in my picture framing restoration work).
I had turned up a spigot on an off cut to fit the recess I had made to take the bearing. With the globe jambed onto it I sanded the surface with 400 and 600 Abranet followed by a polish up with woodwax paste polish to reveal the red gesso.
I recently turned up the sycamore disc which will be fixed between the hands and from which the bowl will be suspended. I am not quite sure how I will achieve that just yet but I have a few ideas to go at .I have been given a considerable quantity of fine brass brazing rods that could work in some how and with this in mind I turned a fine groove round the edge of the disc to accommodate them.
The disc will also be gilded and burnished to a high polished finish.

-------------I aim to live forever... and it feels like I'll need to to get my Workshop finished!

Posted By: Andi
Date Posted: 08 May 2011 at 10:26pm

Hi John,
The elm works far better than the marble, and I love that it spins

I hope I see it in person soon!

Andi

-------------If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!
http://afincherwoodturning.webs.com/ - my website

Posted By: Turnpike
Date Posted: 08 May 2011 at 10:29pm

You going up to Scotland Andi?

-------------I aim to live forever... and it feels like I'll need to to get my Workshop finished!

Posted By: Andi
Date Posted: 08 May 2011 at 10:41pm

Yeah, I can't wait !!!

Andi

-------------If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!
http://afincherwoodturning.webs.com/ - my website

Posted By: Pete in Welland
Date Posted: 08 May 2011 at 11:13pm

John definitely an improvement getting rid of the marble I tried putting heavy gauge copper around a disk much the same as you are thinking with the brazing rods. Mmmmmm, all was well until the wood shrank and the copper ring was then way too big. Trimmed the ring and silver soldered it but when the humidity went up the joint broke. I had annealed the copper and thought it was soft enough to stretch. Haven't figured out yet where I went wrong. Hope you have better luck.

-------------http://peterdhyde.com/ - My New Site

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2011 at 11:23pm

I have had another spell of work on this piece and it's good to get it a bit further on again.
I had come up with an idea for suspending the large bowl. Well ....half an idea.... the rest has yet to develop.
The first job was set our the positions and drill the holes to take the brass rods. I made a card template to check that it would work and then proceeded to coat the disc with Fontenay base to take the gold leaf. I gave it 6 coats rubbing down between each coat with wet and dry paper with a final rub down with 1200 grt.

This was my first attempt at fitting the brass rods. I was using silver solder which needed too much heat for the rods which ended up with slight bends, I was not too happy with the overall result.so I cut the ends off the rods and started again with a slightly different method by sandwiching all the rods between 2 brass plates and using soft solder with a lot less heat. It worked well.

The next job was to apply the gold leaf.. I was using a double weight 22 carat gold transfer leaf as I find it a bit easier to use than loose leaf. I also used an outdoor weather proof varnish type size as it is a bit more durable than the water based ones.

I was quite pleased with the result so I put the disc into position and just to get an idea of the effect I positioned the large bowl on a stool more or less where it will be.As the footprint of the tree root is a little too small to be stable enough to support the heavy bowl I am making a larger area pad to fix to the underside of the root plate which should take care of the stability problem.
This is made from 2 pieces of 2" thick oak glued together with 3/4" dowels and has 2 x 1"x 2" seasoned oak strips let into the under side of the base to help keep it flat.
When the base is fixed to the root plate I will carve and scorch the top of it to blend into the root.

I will do a bit more carving and fit the base while I think of some way to hang the large bowl.
I am toying with the idea of concealing the connection between the bowl hanger and the hook with another globe type planet.This could be a hollowed out ball with the connecting hooks inside.
The bowl will have to be detachable for transportation.
As always I am eager to hear your comments. Cheers John.

The gold leaf really works on the disc, the rods coming down from the disc put me in mine of a suspension bridge, but also a hot air balloon.

I'm glad you're making it transportable......I might sneak up and pinch it....

Great work, well done...can't wait to see what happens to it next.

Andi

-------------If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!
http://afincherwoodturning.webs.com/ - my website

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2011 at 3:32pm

Here is the final installment. I have been a bit busy over the summer so I have slack at putting my posts on the forum. Anyway it is all finished now and packed up in the van to head off to The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle where our artists collective have an exhibition starting on Sept 10Th.

I left off at the stage where the base had been glued up and had to be fitted to the existing root plate to give the thing more stability.
Here the base has been fitted and carved to blend in with the root plate.This is the brass hook that connects to the bowl suspension rodsUnfortunately I have lost the pics of setting up the bowl but it was a bit complicated.
Using a plumb line and spirit level I carefully positioned the bowl on a plank and blocks in the exact position where it was to hang.
I drilled the 3 holes in the bowl and screwed in the end of the rods that I had threaded and carefully cut them to length and positioned them to meet up with the hanging connecting piece that I made by flattening the end of a short piece of rod and making a hole in it to fit the brass hook.
All went well until I Removed the blocks. XXXXXXXXX the bowl tilted to the right more XXXXXXXXXs
I managed to solve this by drilling ten 1/2" holes horizontally into the rim and filling them with molten lead. To melt the lead I used the special melting pot that I use to cast my balls.........Not those balls!!!!!! The ones I stuff down my flintlock rifle barrel.
To conceal the connection I turned up two pieces of wood which I hollowed out to fit the hook.
After coating with fontenay base and silver leafing these were glued together.

Once everything was in place I decided to colour the area between the "arms" starting at the bottom with black and going through blue purple red and orange with each colour fading into the next.
The whole piece was then coated with an acrylic varnishing wax,a product I use for coating picture frames.
Here it is outside my wee gallery.

I also like to photograph my work in an outdoor environment.In this case on the shore of the Sound of Mull with the island of Mull in the background.I took these shots in the late evening but we had to retreat early than hoped for as the midges got unbearable.Many of the photos were spoiled by midges in front and on the camera lens.
Oh ,,, the joys of living in the Highlands.

I started with playing with fire so I will finish with playing with fire again

By the way.... the title of this work........GENESIS..

As usual your comments are always welcome and much appreciated. Cheers John

I've just picked up on this fascinating thread. John, what an incredible piece of work -well done!

David

Posted By: Adie
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2011 at 6:02pm

Intriguing stuff mate

Adie

-------------Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

Posted By: Ivan
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2011 at 6:53pm

Hi John
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- lost for words

Ivan

-------------after all is said and done, a lot more will be said than done.

Posted By: P Grogan
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2011 at 7:49pm

That last series of photos was great and the piece is sufficiently intriguing that I have to keep on going back to it for another look and see some more. There is just too much going on for one quick forum look. Pity you aren't in the S of France so I could see it in real life.

Well done John.

PG

-------------Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Posted By: Ivan
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2011 at 7:55pm

Sorry John forgot to wish you well with the exhibition.

Ivan

-------------after all is said and done, a lot more will be said than done.

Posted By: jaif
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2011 at 9:41pm

absolutely fantastic john and im going to see it on fri night in the flesh
looking forward to that best wishes for the exhibition regards jim

-------------a mcalpine fusillier

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2011 at 11:19pm

Thank all very much for your encouraging replies.I had a lot of pleasure, and a few long spells of ...What on earth shall I do next or How can I get round that one ?...making it.
Some peoples reaction to it have been quite interesting. From the totally mind blown, to the mildly impressed.But the most memorable comment came from my daughter in law Kirsty.......................Good grief John, what on earth were you on when you made that!!!!!!!! What have you been smoking???? Just wait till she sees her Christmas present box. I haven't made it yet but I will think of something suitable. Off to Newcastle tomorrow. I will be home on Saturday and with a bit of luck ,and now the days are getting shorter I aim to get back to the forum a bit more often than of late. I am looking forward to seeing one or two of our forum members there.

By the way, my wife Jenni and I had a fantastic time on the woodturning cruise. Jenni had a couple of woodturning sessions with Mark B (brave man) and is all fired up to do more.
Cheers John.

A wonderful job.
Very valuable part of the technique.
The design is simply brilliant.

-------------Roberto

http://www.artetornio.info - ArteTornio

Posted By: Robbie Graham
Date Posted: 07 Sep 2011 at 9:41pm

A stunner, love it.

-------------http://www.wildwoodgallery.co.nz - My Website

Posted By: Bill Wyko
Date Posted: 09 Sep 2011 at 2:14am

That has to be one of the most beautiful turnings I've ever seen. Just curious, what lathe are you using? A VB36 by chance?

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 10 Sep 2011 at 10:56pm

Well Folks, we made it to Newcastle and here it is with me in the excellent company of Walter Hall, Basil Waugh and Bill Mooney. You can see more about this on a thread by jaif called the biscuit factory in the general woodturning discussion.
Thanks again for your wonderful replies.
Bill.... as much as I would love to say it was a VB36 that I use I have to say that all my work is done on my trusty Nova 3000 which I converted to Variable Speed. A great little machine and as it is bolted down onto over 3/4 of a ton of re enforced concrete it allows me to turn very heavy unbalanced chunks of wood .
Cheers John.

all I can say is Bravo my friend. You deserve a VB36 for that effort. I wish i could have seen this earlier, I would have invited you into the contest I am in. Submissions are over but voting is still on going. You would have, hands up won the contest. Truly one of the most captivating pieces of art I've ever seen.

Posted By: Bill Mooney
Date Posted: 11 Sep 2011 at 2:45pm

Hi John,
Thanks for the invitation, it was a cracking night spent in great company. The turnout was fantastic & the atmosphere was good. Tons of inspiration for any crafts-person.

-------------Regards,

Bill

If it looks right it usually is.

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 12 Sep 2011 at 11:46pm

Thanks very much Bill. It was a real pleasure to meet you, Take care, John.

I have really enjoyed watching this piece evolve. It has become a beautiful sculpture, and you should be proud!

The photo of it on the beach, with the fire in the foreground really sets it off. I bet it looked great with the light and shadows dancing around it.

I hope the biscuit factory exhibition is successful .

Andi

-------------If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!
http://afincherwoodturning.webs.com/ - my website

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 13 Sep 2011 at 11:30pm

Thanks Andi,
I quite enjoyed taking the photos down on the shore but the midges got the better in the end. I had a small generator powering a 50W spot light clipped to a tripod to create the light on the gold leaf. I was really waiting for it to go quite dark to get the effect that I really wanted but I tripped over the light cable and broke the spotlight so we had to call it a day....or a night to be correct.
I have had an idea that I think might work and that is to take 'Genesis ' back up into the oak wood where I found it as a rotting tree stump and Photograph it there. That is unless somebody buys it while it is at The Biscuit Factory. I must admit that I am not too optimistic about that.
Cheers John.

You do put me to shame John, with the effort you put into you photo's. The most effort I put into my pics is finding the camera

If you find that Genesis is getting in your way, I have a lovely spot on the bridge over my pond for it.

Looking forward to the shot in the woods.

Andi

-------------If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!
http://afincherwoodturning.webs.com/ - my website

Posted By: jem.mills
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2011 at 9:25pm

Hi John

This is the best WIP I have seen in a long while. From a piece of wood some would have relegated to the firewood pile to gallery piece, it is quite a journey and fascinating to see the design process and how you dealt with the issues that arose while working through them.

The piece deserves a good home and I am sure it will be snapped up by some discerning buyer.

Thank you for sharing your journey.

p.s. Had a look at your website and anyone who is prepared to pose with a vase on their head has my full backing

-------------Jem

"Shall I bow down to a block of wood." Isaiah 44:19

Posted By: a17ako
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2011 at 10:16pm

well done john , all has been said , cheer s dave

Posted By: John Hodgson
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2011 at 10:05pm

Hi Andi, I am sure it would look good there but the bowl would swing about a bit too much in a wind.It could fall off and splat a frog and that just wouldn't do. So I guess that.s a no from me, sorry.

Jem, Thank you so much for your compliments. Vase on head, wot me.? No that's just another case of woodturning on the brain. It happens a lot round here, must be the tea I drink. Isn't that right Richard?. Thanks Dave.
Cheers John.

Hi Andi, I am sure it would look good there but the bowl would swing about a bit too much in a wind.It could fall off and splat a frog and that just wouldn't do. So I guess that.s a no from me, sorry.

Jem, Thank you so much for your compliments. Vase on head, wot me.? No that's just another case of woodturning on the brain. It happens a lot round here, must be the tea I drink. Isn't that right Richard?.
Thanks Dave.
Cheers John.